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The House of the Scorpion
The House of the Scorpion (2002) is a science fiction novel by Nancy Farmer. It features Matteo Alacrán, a young boy raised by a drug lord of the same name, usually called by his assumed title "El Patrón" throughout the text. It is a story about the struggle to survive as a free individual. It has won numerous awards include the National Book Award, the Newbery Honor, and the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence In Young Adult Literature. It was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book. Plot The story takes place in the country of Opium, a strip of land between Mexico (now called Aztlán), and the United States. Opium, which is essentially an opium-producing estate, is ruled by Matteo Alacrán, also known as El Patrón. El Patrón's work-force consists of illegal immigrants whom the Farm Patrol (ex-criminals who are tempted with the offer of protection from the police) enslave when they catch them crossing the border in either direction. These illegal immigrants become "eejits", humans with computer chips implanted in their brains, making them more or less zombies who can perform only simple tasks. These "eejits" can only do things by a command. If an eejit is not told to stop doing its simple task, it will continue until it dies. The main character Matt, is a clone of El Patrón, an incredibly powerful, 143-year-old drug lord who intends to take Matt's organs when his own organs fail. Matt was grown from a set of cells taken from El Patrón decades ago, then frozen. He was cultured in a test tube, then transferred into a surrogate mother when it became clear that he was going to survive. For the first six years of his life, he lives with Celia, a cook who works in El Patrón's mansion. One day, he is discovered by two children (Emilia and Steven). The next day they return, and bring Emilia's sister, María, who immediately captivates Matt. They observe him through the window for a while, but soon get bored and turn to leave. Matt is so lonely that he smashes the window and jumps out to follow them. Never having experienced pain before, he was unaware of the danger in jumping barefoot onto smashed glass. The children carry him to El Patrón's mansion to be treated. Though the people there act kindly towards Matt at first, until Mr. Alacran, El Patron's great grandson recognizes him as a clone. For the next few months, he is treated as an animal by most of the Alacráns, and is locked into a room filled with sawdust for his "litter". The inhabitants of the Big House, meanwhile, are so disgusted by him that they all move to different wings of the mansion, as if they are afraid of contamination. However, María discovers where he is being kept and informs Celia, who passes the description of Matt's filthy conditions and abusive treatment on to El Patrón. El Patrón immediately punishes the maid who was in charge of Matt, gives Matt clothes and his own room, and commands everyone to treat him with respect. Matt is also given a bodyguard, named Tam Lin, who becomes a father figure to him. Still, everyone but Celia, María, and Tam Lin look upon Matt with ill-disguised revulsion, only hiding it when El Patrón is around. Matt lives in the Big House for the next seven years. He and María quickly become friends, which gradually blossoms into romance. However, Matt is deliberately kept in the dark by everyone about his identity and purpose until a cruel joke reveals to him that he is a clone. Matt also discovers that all clones are supposed to be injected when "harvested" with a compound that cripples their brains and turns them into little more than thrashing, drooling animals. From then on, he studies and practices the piano with a vengeance, in a state of denial. In his heart, Matt already knows the reason for his existence, yet he convinces himself that El Patrón would not hire tutors for him and go to all the trouble of keeping him entertained if he was intending to kill Matt in the end, and that El Patrón must want Matt to run the country when El Patron dies. Alas, Matt's worst fears are realized: El Patrón has a near-fatal heart attack. Matt and María, who have by this time realized they love each other, attempt to flee in the ensuing chaos but are betrayed by Steven and Emilia. María is taken away, and Matt is walked over to the Big House's hospital, where El Patrón at last confirms that Matt lived only to keep himself, El Patrón, alive in the end. At that moment, Celia reveals that she has been giving Matt carefully measured doses of arsenic, which, though not large enough to kill Matt, would certainly be fatal to one as frail as El Patrón; El Patrón becomes so enraged that he has another heart attack and dies. Mr. Alacrán orders Tam Lin to dispose of Matt; Tam Lin pretends to comply, and ties him to a horse and rides away to dispose of him. But instead, he gives Matt supplies and sets him on a path to Aztlán. Arriving in Aztlán, Matt comes across a kind of penal colony for orphans. These orphans are called the "Lost Boys", and Matt is sent to live with them by a group of men known as the "Keepers," who are fervent followers of Marxism. The Keepers operate the plankton farms, forcing the orphans to do manual labor and subsist on plankton. The Keepers enjoy luxurious quarters and delectable food, claiming that this is fair because they "earned" the right to do so by working hard during their childhood. Matt is at first an outcast because the other boys think he is a spoiled aristocrat. However, Matt becomes a hero when he defies the Keepers and leads the boys in a rebellion against them. Matt then flees with his friends among the Lost Boys. They struggle to the nearest city, San Luis, then go to the convent to find María and her mother, the politically powerful Esperanza. Esperanza thanks the boys for giving her an excuse to charge the Keepers with drug trafficking: for years, everybody had known about it, but no one has had sufficient evidence for a search warrant. Matt also learns that Opium is in lockdown. He manages to re-enter the country, but only to learn that no one in the Alacrán estate is alive, except for Celia, Daft Donald, and Mr. Ortega. Tam Lin and everyone else in the estate drank a poisoned wine that El Patrón wanted served at his funeral and died as a result. Matt, being El Patrón's genetic heir, decides to break down Opium, having confidence in himself, Maria, and the others who are still alive.